Qualifying report

British GT

Sims storms to Rockingham British GT pole

Alexander Sims laid down the gauntlet with a lap four tenths of a second clear of the field to earn pole for the third round of the British GT championship at Rockingham.

James Newbold

Edited: Jul 13, 2015, 1:27 PM

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#79 Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 GT3: Marco Attard, Alexander Simms

Lee Mowle and Joe Osborne, Triple Eight Racing BMW Z4 GT3

Rick Parfitt and Tom Oliphant, Team LNT Ginetta GT3

63: Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen, Team Russia by Barwell Racing BMW Z4 GT3

#79 Ecurie Ecosse Porsche 997 GT3 R: Marco Attard, Alexander Simms

Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn, Beechdean Aston Martin GT4 Challenge

One of only two drivers to get under the 1m23s barrier, Sims and defending champion Marco Attard combined to set an aggregate time of 2m46.786s in their Ecurie Ecosse BMW, with Beechdean Aston Martin pair Jonathan Adam and Andrew Howard completing the front row for Sunday’s two-hour race.

A solid banker lap from leading Silver Cup entrant Ahmad Al-Harthy and Daniel Lloyd put the Motorbase Aston Martin firmly in contention in third place, with TF Sport’s Matt Bell and Derek Johnston fourth and Rory Butcher and Liam Griffin fifth in the sister Motorbase machine.

On his return to the circuit where he won in the Ginetta GT4 SuperCup last year, Northern Irishman Andrew Watson set the quickest lap during the Am session, but reigning GT4 champion Ross Wylie was unable to match his pace and will start seventh, ahead of Von Ryan McLaren teammates Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc.

Having saved up their tyres during practice, last year’s Rockingham winners FF Corse (Adam Carroll/Gary Eastwood) will be disappointed with 11th on the grid, while Joe Osborne and Lee Mowle fared only marginally better with the same strategy in ninth. However, with rain forecast tomorrow, both squads will be confident of making progress.

Fresh from winning the Dunlop 24 Hour race at Silverstone last weekend, Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn dominated in the GT4 class with an aggregate time 1.3s faster than the Toyota GT86 of Stefan Hodgetts and Richard Williams.

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